As far as applicant is aware, automatic ticket dispensers employ electro-mechanical means for stamping the current date and time onto a ticket at the time when it is dispensed. Such am arrangement generally consists of a one-revolution per minute synchronous motor coupled to mechanically advanced numbered print wheels which are suitably cogged together to advance by one position every minute, with the minute wheel advancing the tens of minutes wheel in known manner.
When a ticket is issued by such an apparatus a rubber stamp pad is raised beneath the ticket and synchronous motor assembly (herein referred to as a clock mechanism) and the raised numbers on the numbered wheels are imprinted on the ticket through an inked ribbon.
This arrangement has a number of disadvantages not the least of which is the fact that such a clock mechanism is susceptible to variations in the frequency of the mains supply and also must be reset each time after a power failure and at each month end. This ignores interim settings which may be necessary due to the inherently poor time keeping characteristics associated with such a clock.
In addition, and as a result of the complex mechanical nature of the "clock mechanism", dust, dirt, and fluff from the tickets tends to accummulate and cause erratic operation and necessitating frequent service calls and preventive maintenance. Also, after an extended period of operation, the cogs and ratchet mechanism of the clock mechanism are subject to wear and eventually begin to skip movements thereby resulting in incorrect time recordals on the tickets.
Furthermore, due to the complex electro-mechanical assembly of parts, servicing and repair is complicated, tedious, and accordingly, costly.
Other difficulties that arise are the exact positioning of a ticket being dispensed relative to a guillotine for severing a single ticket from a substantially continuous chain of tickets. The reason for this is that the tickets are stored in substantially continuous form but with a series of spaced transverse perforated lines for enabling the tickets to be stored in a stacked, folded, concertina configuration. If the guillotine attempts to sever a ticket in the immediate vicinity of a perforated line, cutting can be ineffective and the guillotine may jam.
It is the object of this invention to provide a ticket dispenser of the aforegoing general type but wherein the disadvantages outlined are, at least to some extent, alleviated.